Category: Speeches

  • Gordon Brown – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Gordon Brown – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gordon Brown on 2014-06-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will visit Dalgety Bay to discuss the time taken to clean up radiation contamination there.

    Mr Mark Francois

    In 2006 the then Health Protection Agency (HPA) Radiological Protection Authority advised that radioactive contamination on Dalgety Bay presented a low risk to the public. A more recent scoping risk assessment undertaken in 2011 by the HPA Centre for Radiation, Chemical and Environmental Hazards at the bequest of the Scottish Government concluded that the risk to health was very low.

    The view of the Centre for Radiation, Chemical and Environmental Hazards (now part of Public Health England) remains unchanged. However, the Ministry of Defence (MOD) is completing a detailed quantitative risk assessment to inform the longer term management strategy which will be available in due course.

    Copies of the advice received by MOD together with a copy of the more detailed risk assessment, when published, will be placed in the Library of the House.

  • Ian Lucas – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Ian Lucas – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Lucas on 2014-03-07.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what recent estimate he has made of the number of children living in households in Wrexham constituency where one or both parents are (a) working-part-time because they are unable to find full-time work and (b) employed on a zero-hours contract.

    Nick Hurd

    The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.

  • Charlotte Leslie – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Charlotte Leslie – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Charlotte Leslie on 2014-06-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent assessment he has made of the efficacy of the General Dental Council’s fitness to practise regime.

    Dr Daniel Poulter

    The Department has made no recent assessment of the efficacy of the General Dental Council’s fitness to practise regime.

    It is the role of the Professional Standards Authority (PSA) to independently review the performance of the regulators on an annual basis, to check how effective the regulators have been in protecting the public and promoting confidence in health and care professionals.

    Further information on the PSA reviews can be found on their website using the following link:

    www.professionalstandards.org.uk/

  • Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool on 2014-03-27.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what consideration they are giving to the Howard League for Penal Reform’s request to the Ministry of Justice to reverse their ban on family and friends sending books to prisoners.

    Lord Wallace of Saltaire

    There are important reasons why we have restricted the sending in of parcels by families and friends of prisoners and we do not intend to withdraw those restrictions. The changes we introduced last year in relation to parcels were to ensure consistency across the estate and to make sure that security can be maintained. There have always been controls on the sending of parcels into prisons, and allowing parcels to be sent in unrestricted would be operationally unmanageable and would lead to a significant risk of drugs and other illicit items being smuggled into prisons.

    We have always recognised the importance of reading and literature in the rehabilitative process, and the positive effects these have on prisoners’ welfare. Every prison has a library, to which every prisoner has access. Prisoners may hold up to 12 books in their cell at any one time, and additional books can be stored locally at the prison. The National Offender Management Service also works closely with the Shannon Trust to support schemes such as ‘Toe by Toe’, which includes peer mentoring to improve reading levels.

  • Jeremy Corbyn – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Jeremy Corbyn – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jeremy Corbyn on 2014-06-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, within what time period Ofsted is required to provide feedback to a school after it has reported to his Department.

    Mr David Laws

    This question is a matter for Ofsted. I have asked Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector, Sir Michael Wilshaw, to write to the hon. Member. A copy of his reply will be placed in the House Library.

  • Lord Boateng – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Lord Boateng – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Boateng on 2014-03-27.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the functioning of the inquest system in the absence of publicly funded legal representation for the families of deceased victims of actions on the part of the police or other public authorities.

    Lord Faulks

    The Government is confident that the inquest system is functioning effectively following reforms introduced last July under the Coroners and Justice Act 2009. We are committed to reviewing the impact of the reforms in 2015.

    In addition, the Government has specifically protected legal aid for families at inquests. Legal Help (the advice and assistance level of legal aid) remains routinely available within the scope of the civil legal aid scheme. In exceptional circumstances funding can also be provided for the family’s legal representation at the inquest pursuant to section 6(8)(b) of the Access to Justice Act 1999 (AJA) or section 10(1) of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 (LASPO) (the applicable legislation depending on the date of the original application). A means test applies but can be waived in certain circumstances.

    The Lord Chancellor is prevented by statute from giving directions and guidance to the Legal Aid Agency in relation to an individual case, but has published general guidance to which the Director of Legal Aid Casework must have regard when making individual decisions on applications for exceptional funding for representation at inquests. The guidance sets out the relevant criteria and specifically addresses inquests where there is a death in custody or a death in the course of police arrest, search, pursuit or shooting.

    Following a review of its decision in the Groce family’s case, the Legal Aid Agency made a funding request to the Lord Chancellor. The Lord Chancellor has considered the request and has granted funding

  • John Mann – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    John Mann – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Mann on 2014-06-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many passport renewals have been completed within the advertised three week turnaround time from receipt in the last period for which figures are available.

    James Brokenshire

    Straightforward passport applications from applicants in the UK have a published expected turnaround of three weeks. For the financial year 2013-14,
    99.58 percent of customers received their passports within that period.

    Achievement of turnaround times is a national objective and specific targets are not focused on individual offices. This approach allows HM Passport Office
    to channel resources and distribute applications to meet capacity.

  • Lucy Powell – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Lucy Powell – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lucy Powell on 2014-03-26.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what proportion of employees in his Department of each (a) Civil Service pay grade and (b) gender work (i) reduced hours, (ii) flexi-time, (iii) from home, (iv) a compressed working week, (v) job share, (vi) term-time only and (vii) part-time.

    Mr Francis Maude

    The Prime Minister’s Office is an integral part of the Cabinet Office.

    Some of the information requested is not held centrally. However, all of these options are available to employees subject to business needs.

    Fewer than five employees are currently recorded as working (iii) from home in a formal arrangement.

    The proportion of employees by Pay Grade who work part-time hours as at 28 February 2014 is shown in the table below:

    CO Payband (CS Equivalent)

    % Part Time

    PERM SEC

    0%

    SCS3

    14%

    SCS2

    5%

    SCS1

    8%

    A/BAND A (Grade 6/7)

    5%

    B2/BAND B2 (HEO/SEO)

    6%

    B/Faststream

    0%

    B1/BAND B1 (EO)

    9%

    C/BAND C (AA/AO)

    10%

    The proportion of employees by gender who work part-time hours as at 28 February 2014 is shown in the table below:

    Gender

    % Part Time

    Female

    12%

    Male

    1%

  • John Glen – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    John Glen – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Glen on 2014-06-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that all schools can provide free school meals for infant children by September 2014.

    Mr David Laws

    The Government is providing substantial funding to enable schools to offer free meals to all infant pupils from September 2014, including over £1 billion additional revenue funding over the two years 2014 to 2016 and £150 million capital funding in 2014-15. The revenue funding includes transitional funding to small schools, worth a minimum of £3,000, which qualifying schools will be able to use to help them overcome delivery challenges.

    We are also funding a national support service, run by school food experts, which is providing advice and guidance to schools that need assistance in implementing universal infant free school meals. The support includes a telephone helpline, the sharing of good practice, and an intensive face-to-face support service for schools facing significant challenges.

  • Vernon Coaker – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Vernon Coaker – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Vernon Coaker on 2014-03-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Chancellor of the Exchequer’s Budget Statement on 19 March 2014, Official Report, column 784, what effect making departmental underspends permanent and locked-in will have on his Department’s budgetary assumptions in relation to his Department’s (a) revenue and (b) capital budget until 2015-16.

    Mr Philip Hammond

    (holding answer 31 March 2014)

    The Chancellor’s Budget statement did not change the Ministry of Defence (MOD)’s budgetary position until 2015-16 from that set out at the Autumn Statement in December 2013.

    The Treasury has confirmed that Defence’s overall position remains unchanged as a result of the Budget: there has been no change to the MOD’s budgetary baseline for 2015-16.